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Why is K-drama so popular among Filipinos? Expert weighs in

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/10/07/kdrama.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Screengrab from YouTube</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- Aside from being an associate professor at University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Erik Paolo Capistrano is also the principal investigator of UP&#x27;s Korea Research Center (KRC) and is a long-time fan of K-drama.</p><p>And for him, there are many factors that make K-drama a hit, particularly among Filipinos. </p><p>He believes that the success of K-drama is a result of not just the creativity of Korean entertainment companies, but also aggressive promotions and loyal fan bases. </p><p>Below are the following points he shared in a recent webinar organized by the UP KRC aptly titled &quot;Korea Landed On You,&quot; inspired by the popular K-drama &quot;Crash Landing On You.&quot; </p><div><strong>REFRESHING, FORWARD-LOOKING CONTENT</strong></div><p>Capistrano said the Korean entertainment companies have been effective in creating &quot;new and disruptive&quot; content, citing the recent hit &quot;It&#x27;s Okay To Not Be Okay&quot; which tackled mental health among males. </p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s very rare to see males expressing their suffering about mental health, and this drama has a big impact,&quot; he said.</p><p>He also observed how K-dramas give &quot;a refreshing take on common themes&quot; such as &quot;Hospital Playlist,&quot; which has become one of his personal favorites.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s not the first time that a hospital drama has been broadcasted, but we see something like this and it&#x27;s a very fresh take,&quot; he said. </p><p>On top of creating binge-worthy content, Capistrano also praised Korean entertainment companies for being &quot;forward-looking&quot; and for being open to moving to different platforms and genres.</p><p>He mentioned the move of the big-budget &quot;The King: Eternal Monarch&quot; from television to Netflix, and &quot;Backstreet Rookie,&quot; a web toon that became a live-action drama that is also available in Netflix and China&#x27;s streaming website. </p><p>&quot;Korean dramas have been constantly evolving and being distributed in channels outside of the usual broadcast channels, and are made available to all of us,&quot; he said.</p><p>Capistrano went on: &quot;You have several themes like in &#x27;The World of the Married,&#x27; it&#x27;s a very serious and heavy drama; you have your &#x27;Crash Landing on You&#x27; which is a take on North Korean versus South Korean lifestyles; and you have current dramas like &#x27;Do You Like Brahms&#x27; and &#x27;Alice&#x27; that tackle topics that otherwise we do not know.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The point is that regardless of the topic or the theme of the drama, they have a very robust system behind it that enables it to be executed in such a way that it can communicate to us, to various audiences.&quot;</p><div><strong>PROMOTIONS, FAN BASE</strong></div><p>On top of this &quot;very robust system&quot; is the aggressive promotions of K-dramas, similar to what is done with Korean music talents.</p><p>Capistrano said one of Korea&#x27;s big channels, KBS, has YouTube channels dedicated to specific content, effectively addressing the needs of their audiences. </p><p>He also pointed out the continuous stream of content not only from new talent, but also from seasoned Korean actors. </p><p>&quot;They&#x27;re always constantly churning out new dramas,&quot; he said.</p><p>Tapping into fan bases has also been effective for Korean entertainment companies, said Capistrano, as they have guaranteed viewers in shows starring K-pop acts.</p><p>&quot;We see more and more K-pop idols becoming actors and actresses... You have very loyal fan bases to keep everything going,&quot; he said. </p><div><strong>SHORTER PROGRAMS</strong></div><p>Another factor that may have drawn Filipinos to K-dramas is its length, according to Capistrano.</p><p>A typical Korean series spans 16 to 24 episodes, as opposed to popular local shows that last for months, or even years.</p><p>&quot;We have this penchant where if a Philippine drama hits, you extend it as long as you can, as opposed to Korean dramas that have a definitive beginning or ending. You know you&#x27;re only going for 16 or 20 or 24 episodes. It&#x27;s easy to schedule your time around it if you&#x27;re a viewer,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;With Philippine dramas, sometimes it gets so dragging along the way in an effort to maximize things, but the story suffers,&quot; he added. &quot;So in that sense, you cannot blame Filipinos for preferring some other content to watch.&quot; </p><p>Watch Capistrano talk about the popularity of K-drama in the Philippines starting at the 34:02 mark in the video below:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dula0i_q7IA?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>There are many factors that make K-drama a hit, particularly among Filipinos, according to an expert. </p>

There are many factors that make K-drama a hit, particularly among Filipinos, according to an expert.